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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622210">No Need to Ask</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgot_my_art/pseuds/forgot_my_art'>forgot_my_art</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The 100 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bisexual Raven Reyes, Clarke Griffin &amp; Raven Reyes are Best Friends, F/F, POV Raven Reyes, Past Finn Collins/Raven Reyes, Pregnant Raven Reyes, Raven Reyes-centric, raven reyes/luna - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:01:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,829</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29622210</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgot_my_art/pseuds/forgot_my_art</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven had her whole life ahead of her, then her boyfriend Finn got her pregnant and was sentenced to a lifetime of prison. All her friends want to help her, but Raven doesn’t need help. At least, she doesn’t think so until she gives in to the stress and wanders into the boardwalk bar one night. She wonders why her order is taking so long until the woman behind the bar returns with a tub of ice cream from the closed shop next door instead of her drink.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luna &amp; Raven Reyes, Luna/Raven Reyes, raven finn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Done</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Raven is so done with life. She has barely eaten all day because of “morning sickness”, her studies were brutal, and her friends kept asking her if she needed help as if she was invalid. She was sick and tired of it. Most of all she was sick and tired of getting calls from Finn’s lawyer asking to see her about the baby. It was her damned baby the moment he went and murdered somebody and proved that he was not fit to be a father.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That is why Raven Reyes finds herself pushing open the door to a dingy bar on the boardwalk at midnight and plopping herself down in front of the bar. She waves down a bartender and murmurs, “Whiskey on the rocks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the bartender doesn’t answer, she looks up to see a tall wiry woman with a mane of curly hair. The eyebrow on her sculptured face is raised as she wipes down a glass, and just stared back at Raven, apparently unimpressed. Raven would probably have hit on her if it weren’t for the fact that her stomach was starting to show underneath her bomber jacket. As it was, since she couldn’t flirt, she chose instead to scowl, “What? You don’t want to serve me? There’s another bar two blocks down that’ll serve me if you don’t.” As one can tell, Raven has an excellent balance in life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman could probably tell as well, because she shakes her head with a small sigh before saying, “I’ll get it.” Raven sags in her seat. She didn’t like exploding in people’s faces like that. It’s gotta be the pregnancy hormones right? There certainly isn’t any other possible way to explain it, like maybe the fact that her temper was just as explosive to begin with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she looks around the bar is relatively quiet. It isn’t surprising for a Wednesday night so late. There is a salty smell to the place mixed with the alcohol, and the wood panel walls are tastefully decorated with nautical themed elements. The lull of small talk in the background is soothing compared to the rush of Raven’s entire day. Slowly her eyelids start to feel heavy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She is started awake by an entire tray of ice cream. An entire tray of ice cream. Her immediate reaction is to do a Kirby and just inhale all of it, but she suppresses the urge. “This isn’t what I ordered. I won’t pay for it.” Where the heck did she even get such a big tray of ice cream from at midnight? The ice cream store next door was closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman seems slightly amused by the quirk of her lips. She leans in so that her breath caresses Raven’s ear as she speaks quietly. “It’s on the house.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman leans back and steps away, moving on to another customer. You see, Raven would complain and make a big deal out of it, but she realizes that baby actually really craves mint chocolate chip ice cream. It is the only food item she has been able to look at all day without wanting to puke. So she picks up her spoon and starts eating the ice cream. It is quite the task because she is racing with time trying to scarf it all down before it melts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the end her stomach is full and she feels sleepy and laden. She lets her cheek rest on the counter for a bit, and the last thing she remembers is watching the woman who brought her the ice cream bustling behind the counter making another drink for a late night customer. Awake Raven would’ve smacked herself for even thinking about it, but in this moment, a sleepy and content Raven thinks she wouldn’t mind if a woman like that brought her food for her crazy cravings once in a while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-0-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Raven awakes content for the first time in a long time. She is soothed by the rhythm of the rocking, the sheets are warm and silky, and smell of… the </span>
  <em>
    <span>sea</span>
  </em>
  <span>?!?! She shoots up in the bed and pries her eyes open to find herself in a low ceilinged room. The sheets are a silky black and light comes in from windows that surround her on three sides. In front of her, they slant. The sea expands in front of her, neverending.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh good. You’re awake.” The woman from the night before leans against the door frame casually.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where am I? Where have you taken me, you kidnapper?” Raven screeches. Maybe it had been a bad idea after all to go to a dingy bar during midnight hours. She scooches as far away as the woman as possible, which happens to apparently be the floor, because she scooches so far she ends up tumbling off the bed with an “oomph”.</span>
</p><p> <span>“You’re the one who fell asleep in my bar. Excuse me if I didn’t want you to get more of a backache,”the woman answers in a drawl. Despite the tone of her words, she walks around the bed and holds a hand out to Raven to help her up.</span></p><p>
  <span>Now that Raven thinks about it, she doesn’t remember ever leaving the bar after eating the tub of ice cream. Perhaps there had been sedatives in it? If there really were, then this was certainly an unconventional form of kidnapping. “What do you mean more of a backache?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman peers at Raven. “You really don’t recognize me, do you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven frowns. Is she supposed to be able to pinpoint this psycho? “No…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The corner of the woman’s lips quirk upward. “I suppose you wouldn’t. I’m not a very memorable person. I’m Luna Rivers, Lincoln and Lexa’s cousin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It all comes flooding back to Raven then. Last year, Lexa and Lincoln had brought their cousin to the annual Christmas party that the Griffins held. Albeit her hair had been tied back in braids, but it was the same thin woman with chiseled cheekbones and calming silence about her. At the time Raven had been so making out with Finn under the mistletoe that she hadn’t really paid much attention. She shuts that thought down just as abruptly as the memory re-enters her mind because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>cannot</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>will not</span>
  </em>
  <span> think about that murderer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So instead, Raven pushes herself up, purposely ignoring Luna’s outstretched hand. She is capable of doing things by herself. There were worse things than dealing with a person who thought they knew how to treat your body better than you right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna doesn’t seem offended by the action and simply nods. “Right. Let’s get to breakfast.” She leads Raven through a series of corridors. Ever the gentlewoman, she indicates with a sweep of her hand a bow that Raven should go first, as if she is a butler or maid welcoming their mistress home to their mansion. Raven tries her best to suppress a smile at Luna’s antics. Perhaps she wasn’t as stuck up and flat in personality as Raven had initially thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Halfway up the narrow stairs, the smell of bacon, sausage, and eggs hits Raven. At the top of the stairs is a sitting area, double doors at the end open to the outdoor deck. A small table surrounded by a u-shaped bench is laden with all the breakfast foods a person could possibly want. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll help myself”, Raven announces as she grabs a plate and digs in. If there is one thing about Raven, it is that she is completely unapologetic about her actions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna on the other hand, is much slower in her flowing grace. She folds herself into the bench and takes a plate, slowly cutting her sausage into bite sized pieces with her fork. She is about halfway done eating her second sausage when she realizes that the sounds of vigorous chewing have died down. She looks up to see Raven staring at her plate, even though she quickly looks away out the window to cover it up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A survey of the table reveals that all the scrambled eggs on the table are mysteriously missing, and the portion on Luna’s plate is the last bit left. Luna considers offering it to Raven, but judging by how fiercely independent she had acted earlier, anybody taking a wild swing could guess that Raven would refuse it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, Luna gets up and scrambles some eggs at the kitchenette on the opposite end of the room. When she returns, Raven is staring at her as if ready to put up a fight. Must she always be so ready to fight somebody? Luna rather thinks that sometimes things could be solved much more peacefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven’s expression morphs to stunned when Luna simply places the plate of eggs in the middle of the table and returns to her food. She doesn’t offer it to Raven, and in the end this way, the choice is Raven’s whether or not to eat it. Otherwise it just sits there, tantalizingly close to Raven’s nostrils, wafting the heavenly scent of scrambled eggs into her nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the end, what do you know? Raven ends up eating the scrambled eggs.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. You're Not Clarke</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Raven opens the door to find Luna instead of Clarke.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It isn’t until two weeks later after Luna drives Raven home that morning that she sees her again. Raven absolutely hates how much she thinks of Luna’s quiet gentleness the entire time.</p><p>The doorbell rings on a weekend, and Raven opens the door to Luna. Raven rubs her eyes to make sure she isn’t hallucinating, because she’s pretty sure she had asked <em> Clarke </em> to buy her a blowtorch because she couldn’t find hers for her project. In fact, last time Raven checked, she didn’t even have Luna’s number so there’s no way she accidentally texted Luna to get her a blowtorch. After her morning sickness, she really didn’t want to go out.</p><p>“Good afternoon,”Luna greets casually, as if it is perfectly normal for her to show up with a blowtorch and a bag of coffee beans. She raises an eyebrow as if waiting for Raven to invite her in.</p><p>Instead of doing that, Raven frowns. She is not ready for a random guest, the apartment is a mess of chip bags, wrappers, soda cans, and wherever she left her tools. Plus she’s in sweats and a tank top, expecting the person to drop by to be Clarke and not somebody who could judge her attire. “I don’t think my coffee machine can use coffee beans.” Of course that is the first thing on her mind, not the fact that Luna has showed up on her doorstep, or the fact that she should probably invite her in.</p><p>Luna just shrugs, hands her the blowtorch, and sidles past her, “I’ll take care of it. Where’s your kitchen?” </p><p>Glancing at the clock, Raven discovers she doesn’t have the time to care whether or not Luna is really intruding on her space. She has to get this project to the professor by 3pm. She murmurs directions to Luna and then hurries off to do some soldering in the living room, ignoring the fact that there was probably some code regulation she was breaking by using a blowtorch inside her apartment.</p><p>When Raven finishes, examines the piece once again. Yes, it is exactly how she wants it. Then she looks up to find Luna looking at her over the rim of a coffee mug and yelps in surprise at the intense brown gaze. She hadn’t even noticed Luna was there in her concentration. Raven fumbles a few times before she catches the circuit board again, and carefully places it back down on the coffee table.</p><p>Luna’s lips are quirked up slightly as if she’s trying not to smile. “That one’s yours”, she nods to a cup across the table. A steaming mug of coffee sits on the glass, aroma wafting towards Raven enticingly now that it didn’t just smell like burning metal.</p><p> Raven picks it up slowly, sniffing it <em> just </em> in case Luna poisoned it or something. Tentatively, she takes a sip. The flavors burst onto her tongue and she tries to mask her pleasant surprise. “This is...okay. How’d you even do that?”</p><p>The curly haired woman shrugs. “I improvised a french press.” Raven is mildly impressed at the woman’s talents. What <em> couldn’t </em> Luna do? However, despite Luna’s apparent abundance of talents, including delivery of blowtorches, Raven was still fairly sure she didn’t hallucinate asking Clarke to get her one.</p><p>“So why are you delivering the blowtorch and not Clarke?”</p><p>“Clarke had to run off somewhere and told Lexa to do it, and Lexa being the useless lesbian she is, didn’t have the heart to say no to Clarke, so she asked me to do it for her”, Luna answers, a smile now gracing her features. It was kind of cute.</p><p>Raven snorts, glad she wasn’t drinking her coffee when Luna spoke. “They’re hopeless. Especially commander heart-eyes.” A glance at the clock tells her that she has twenty minutes to hand in her assignment. She downs the rest of the coffee and dashes out, calling over her shoulder, “Thanks! Let yourself out, Luna!”</p><p>The sun is setting across campus when Raven finally makes her way back to her apartment. Orange sunlight reflects on the pavement. She swings her door open, ready to plop onto the couch and just watch some TV, and stops dead in the doorway. Gone is the mess she walked out of. Here is a squeaky clean apartment that she almost doesn’t recognize. She swears the countertop of the kitchen is so clean it is sparkling.</p><p>Raven’s jaw is on the ground by now, as she walks slowly into her apartment. Everything is cleaner. Even the blanket on the couch is folded up neatly on one end. Her phone rings and she opens it to a text message from an unknown number.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Unknown: I didn’t want you tripping over something and squashing the baby. -Luna </em>
</p><p> </p><p>As she looks around the now clean apartment, Raven thinks that it wouldn’t be so bad if there was somebody in her life that balanced out her habits, and helped her clean around the  house. After all, it was only for the baby right?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Raven: Not bad. The baby says thank you. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Two Weeks Later</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Luna hears the sniffles before she sees her on the bench. It is early in the morning, at 4am on Saturday, the yellow glow of the lamp on the path overlooking the crashing waves of the sea.</p><p>Unlike the last two times, her hair is let in waves of brown locks. Her shoulders shake as she cries, hugging herself in just sweats and a t-shirt. If somebody were really looking for it (not that Luna was, she just happened to notice) there was a slight baby bump underneath the tight shirt. Luna really shouldn’t meddle. She already has twice. But the girl is going to catch a cold if she keeps sitting there like that. Luna shrugs off her long flowing coat as she approaches the bench and drapes it over the latina.</p><p>Raven looks up as she feels the weight of the fabric, her eyes rimmed red in a heart rending way. Luna gives her a small smile and turns on her heel to continue her way back to her yacht. “Wait. Stay...please.”</p><p>Luna stops and turns around slowly. She waits for Raven to speak as her curls float in the wind behind her.</p><p>“I wish he was here. Not him specifically. I know how to do this, sometimes I just need somebody to be there”, Raven rambled, instinctively pulling the jacket tighter around herself as a particularly strong ocean wind gusts by.</p><p>Luna’s face softens. She sits herself down next to Raven, not really looking at her but instead out at the foam where the water meets the rock and sand. “It is nice to have emotional support”, Luna acknowledges. There is no question in her statement. She doesn’t ask “who is he?” or “what happened?” It’s not her business.</p><p>Raven considers that. “Emotional support, huh? I never thought of it like that. When you say it that way it almost seems different from needing help and relying on others.”</p><p>“That’s because it is different”, Luna replies easily. She knows the difference easily because she herself has often straddled the thin line between the two and seen many people do the same. She’s no psychologist, but it doesn’t take one to use common sense to make sense of life experiences.</p><p>Raven hums in return in a contemplating fashion. Luna stays silent, figuring that she probably needed time to think about what was said. The waves are lulling, and she just watches them, breathing in the saltiness of the air. The calm washes over her. The ocean has always had a natural effect on her that nothing else has had.</p><p>Perhaps it is because the ocean relaxed her so much that her heart leaps out of her chest in surprise when the weight of Raven’s head falls onto her shoulder. She whips her head around to see Raven now asleep, fatigue finally having gotten the better of her. The first few rays of orange sunlight were starting to crest over the horizon, splaying onto her face and outlining it. Luna raises a hand up and in front of her face. She knew firsthand how bright sunlight could ruin a good session of sleep.</p><p>She sits there for a good two hours, her shoulder being used as a personal pillow and attempting to block the sunlight with her hand. It was silly because she didn’t need to. She barely knew Raven, but it felt like the correct thing to do.</p><p>The sun was almost all the way up when a woman walked by with a cacophonous baby in a stroller that Raven jolted awake with a snort. Luna has to bite back a smile. It’s almost cute how she started. </p><p>It is quick, but Raven murmurs, “Thanks for that. I uh… gotta go.” As she slips off the bench and down the street, Luna can swear that she sees a hint of a blush.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Lifestyle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They continue their 4am boardwalk talks.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>It becomes a habit of sorts. To be honest, Raven doesn’t quite know why she keeps coming back. At first it was just to return Luna’s jacket the next day, but some way, somehow, just talking it out even though Luna doesn’t say much back makes her feel freer. Always at four o’clock on the same bench on the boardwalk. It starts out with serious things, and then deteriorates to her complaining about her schoolwork, professors, part-time jobs, how grossly in love Lincoln and Octavia were the last time she went out for dinner with them, and eventually just how lazy Raven is, because going to the supermarket to buy food is hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna raises a brow at this new revelation. “I understand laziness, but that might be a whole new level.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, your honor. You may judge my lifestyle, but I doubt it is much worse than yours. After all, you’re sitting here talking to me, aren’t you?” Raven shoots back. Her words lack the bite that the wind provided. Fall had rapidly descended in the last few weeks, making the oceanside winds even chillier. Luna has once again draped her coat over Raven’s shoulders, although Raven suspects that Luna has started wearing more layers than necessary for this specific reason.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna graces Raven with a quirk upward of her lips. “Yes, sitting here and talking to you every morning is one of the worst lifestyle decisions I’ve made in my life so far”, Luna sighs dramatically to enhance the effect of her sarcastic words. “I might just have to rethink it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven snorts, “Like you have anything better to do.” It just slips out, and she realizes immediately after that she probably does. The silence hangs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thanking is certainly not Raven’s forte. There was never anyone to thank growing up, so it certainly wasn’t something she was used to doing. In the end, it didn’t seem like Luna was after gratitude to begin with. “What about you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me?” there is a protective edge to Luna’s voice. Luna’s face has hardened a bit. Perhaps it had been imagined, but it almost seemed like Luna was leaning away from Raven.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you spend your days? You hear all about mine”, Raven answers, choosing her words as carefully as she could. It wasn’t like Raven was a master of words. Wires and coding? She was your gal. Poems and persuasion? Not so much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I sleep on the yacht. I don’t go into work until dinner time so in the summers I spend it on the beach.” Luna glazes over the details in her own mysterious way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the rest of the seasons?” Raven prompts. A glimmer of hope sits in her chest that shouldn’t. Maybe, just maybe…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I volunteer at an orphanage when I feel like it. Live in my house”, Luna says. She looks away from Raven deliberately. Somehow this seems special although the information is trivial. It is a private person telling things about her own life. It is easy to imagine Luna with kids. Smiling, laughing, and playing, perhaps teaching them about things like marine life, swimming, or even just flowers that grow around the playground. For one second, Raven can even imagine Luna playing with her soon-to-be-born baby.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then what was said registers. “Wait. You don’t live in the yacht? Then why do you keep passing by here?” Her eyes bore into Luna. She had simply assumed that Luna was on her way back to her yacht every morning. This would mean that this was no coincidence after all. In fact, it would imply that Luna was purposely coming to listen to Raven rant every week. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To make sure a certain woman doesn’t freeze herself to death.” Luna stares right back, her brown eyes warm and welcoming in a way Raven had never known of before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this moment perhaps because how stable, reliable, and comfortable like the constant lapping of warm waves against the sand in the summer, Raven musters the courage to ask. “What are you doing later today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is an open ended question. Luna can choose to leave her there and never let Raven into her life, or to take it. Raven knows that. She has never craved companionship, but she is lying if she says she never got lonely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have nothing planned. Why?” Luna's face looks carefully blank, but underneath it all is a hint of that never ending kindness she has shown in the last few weeks in their little spot, their little time, their little bubble that they have created here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is as if the words physically pain her to say. That perhaps she can’t do it alone. So Raven spits it out as quickly as possible. “TodayisthesexrevealappointmentandIcan’tdoitalone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-0-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Luna has to suppress a chuckle at how fast Raven’s face falls from a bashed apprehension to relief. It wasn’t like she was going to say no even if she really did have something to do. The fact was, Luna wanted to help, she wanted to get to know this brave soul who seemed to have gone through so much, but she had no idea how to. Every time she thought about reaching further, it seemed like she was crossing an invisible boundary into territory where she didn’t belong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, good. Thanks.” Nervously, Raven pulls her hair out of its ponytail and fidgets with it. Her chocolate hair falls in waves and frames her face. It is so gorgeous in the golden light of dawn that Luna’s heart skips several beats as her hair settles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… you want to grab some breakfast while we wait for the time of your appointment?” Luna suggests. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven smiles with tentative anticipation. “I could try another one of your coffee brews.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too much coffee might not be good for pregnant women, but there was nothing Luna wished to do more than make Raven smile just a little longer. She stands up and extends her hand to help Raven up. “I have the equipment and coffee beans at home to brew some. And groceries to actually make breakfast unlike somebody.” Luna tacks on the last part just to nag her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hand is gently slapped away, but there is no scowl. Luna’s ever-kind heart might just be growing on her. “I can get up myself, Luna”, Raven grumbles exasperatedly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-0-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The house is nothing like what Raven expects. Being the cousin of Lexa and Lincoln, a mansion would’ve been more appropriate. Instead she is looking at a small suburban cottage. It is normal in just about every way, down to the colorful leaves covering the yard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna leads her through the house into the kitchen. The inside of the house is just as ordinary as the outside. She situates herself at a small wooden, round, dining table in the kitchen as Luna busies herself at the kitchen counter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cooking was never one of Raven’s best abilities. She was able to cook precious few recipes, although she could cook those few recipes extremely well. Anything else was a lost cause though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s almost like how… “Finn used to show up at my doorstep when we were kids with a piece of toast from his own breakfast and make sure I ate while we walked to school.” It just slips out, and Raven isn’t sure why. She’s never mentioned it to anyone else, not even Clarke and Octavia who are her best friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna hums in acknowledgement as she placed an enticing plate of waffles and a can of whipped cream in front of Raven. She situated herself at the other end of the table and folds her hand together, elbows resting on the table and gives a tilt of her head as if to say continue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My mother was never around. She was always out for drugs or alcohol. So was the money. Finn made sure I ate, he made sure I was alive. He was that neighborhood boy next door.” Raven can’t help but look away. She won’t cry over this. She’s stronger than that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Turns out she’s not such a good actress because the sour look on her face must tip Luna off. “Would you like to watch a movie until your appointment to get our mind off of things?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Relieved that she doesn’t have to continue her train of that. Luna has a right to feel awkward at the emotional load that Raven just put on her. So Raven latches onto the idea. Food doesn’t seem so appetizing after being attributed to Finn. “Yeah, maybe we should watch the little mermaid since you spend so much time on the beach you might as well be one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna just chuckled and shakes her head, following Raven’s lead with her plate of waffles in hand as they amble to the couch. She plops onto it and grabs the remote. “I call dibs I get to choose!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, it is only fitting that she chooses the little mermaid just to poke some fun at Luna. Luna seems slightly amused at her choice. As the telltale light shoots over the castle in the Disney introduction, Luna holds a waffle out to her, expression as if daring Raven to refuse. Grudgingly, she accepts it. It’s quite enticing when it’s being waved in front of your face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they make it to the doctor’s office several hours later, Raven slips her into Luna’s. Perhaps Luna can sense how nervous Raven is, because she doesn’t say a thing. The doctor waltzes in, white coat and all and introduces himself before stretching his out to Raven. “It’s nice to meet you, Raven.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiles in response, grasping his hand with the one that isn’t holding Luna’s. “It is nice to meet you too, doctor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turns to Luna, and stretches his hand out to her as well. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Reyes.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiles in return as if everything is fine. “I’m not. The name’s Luna Rivers,”she says coolly in reply as she grasps his hand and shakes it. It’s a stunning difference from how she acts with Raven, so much so that Raven feels like she almost got whiplash from the 360 degree turn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If the doctor is off put but her manner whatsoever, he doesn’t show it. The cheery grin stays on his face. He even hums as he gathers his equipment. This is it, Raven thinks, and suddenly it feels like a scorpion has crawled into her throat. She isn’t ready. She wasn’t ever ready, she thinks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then a warm, warm, hand slips into hers and she looks up to meet beautiful calf brown eyes that possess nothing but reassurance.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. My Night Blood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The reason why Luna is so okay with helping Raven.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just made up the medical part where Nightblood is a form of hemophilia. And also the sonogram part, so correct me if that is incorrect (yes that is why it is as vague as possible).</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Luna remembers that night clear as day, though Raven may not. That night two years ago at the Christmas party, everyone had essentially forgotten about her. Parties weren’t really her scene and she tended to slip away into the corners. So it was near midnight when she slipped out.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The streets were dark and shadows were long. That’s when slipped out of the shadows. Rowdy teenage boys who didn’t know any better, and they jumped her. She pulled her forearms up in front of her, blocking the blows. She hears them laughing, and desperately punches back at faces that are a blur, she doesn’t even see them, because there’s too many. They rip her bag from her. She throws back several punches and hears a crack as her fist connects with a nose.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Another fist connects with her gut and she stumbles backward, falling. Boots connect with her ribs, and she curls up in an attempt to protect herself the best she can.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Then a voice echoes through the street. “Hey!” The pummeling ceases. Footfalls sound and get farther and farther. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luna slowly lowers her arms, to see a feminine face peering down at her. “Are you okay, Luna?” The blackness slowly crowds into her vision as she tries to fight it off. She knows she should’ve been more careful, knows exactly what’s happening because the pummeling has opened gashes and she can feel her blood trickling down her skin.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She had awoken to fluorescent lights that made her eyeballs hurt and a beautiful gaze hovering over hers. A grin immediately splits said face when Luna opens her eyes. “Y-you’re awakeeeeee. Luna’s awake”,the woman giggles out in a slur, cheeks flushed and obviously drunk.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>An IV is stuck to Luna’s wrist as she props herself up, bandages pulling on her skin as she moves against them. The white walls of the hospital are all too familiar. “You… why are you here?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You introduced yourself earlier at the party. You were nice. And pretty. And you looked sad when you were leaving”,Raven manages to get out in chunks, as if her brain is only working a few words at a time. Raven’s beautiful eyes trail downwards to the bandages, “You wouldn’t stop bleeding. Your blood was black. How is our skin not grey with blood that color?” Her eyes are full of intrigue rather than disgust. Luna admires how bold she is. She doesn’t tiptoe around it, or cast her eyes down as if she pities Luna. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Perhaps it is because a girl who is obviously so intoxicated she can barely sit up in her chair, and is still actually clutching a bottle of alcohol in one of her hands looking over her in a hospital is so ridiculous that Luna tells the truth. Or maybe it’s just because Raven is the first one in a long time who has cared enough to stay with her that long, the first person to remember she exists. Either way, she finds herself explaining it all to Raven, “I have nightblood. It’s a type of hemophilia where my blood is black and won’t clot like a normal person’s. I continue to bleed a lot, longer than a normal person.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Raven seems to sober up for a second, “So you would’ve died if I hadn’t stopped them.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luna looks away, at the curtain next to the bed and gulps. “Yes”, she croaks out. She doesn’t like causing fights, causing people to stand up for her. She’d much rather people just be peaceful.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Raven seems to read her mind, “Don’t worry your pretty head off. I didn’t actually hurt the kids.” Her words are back to slurring.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luna turns around to look at Raven to respond when she realizes Raven is starting to lose her balance and teeter off her seat. She thrusts her hands out to grab Raven by the shoulders just in time. Luna lets out a breath of relief when she does. A puff of air against her hand from luscious lips makes her realize that Raven has fallen asleep. A moment is taken to relish this. This feeling that perhaps there is hope for this world if somebody strong and kind-hearted like Raven existed. A person like her could change the world.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Being mindful of the IV, Luna picks up Raven as if she is a child and switches their positions so that Raven is on the bed and Luna is the one sitting in the chair before picking up her phone. When Lexa arrives thirty minutes later, she raises a brow at the situation. “She helped me, but she kind of passed out from all the alcohol at the party. I can’t leave right now. Can you send her home?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lexa smiled understandingly and picked up Raven from the bed. After all, she had the same thing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-0-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Raven never did end up contacting Luna again until that one day at the bar. Lexa had mentioned to Luna that Raven had completely blanked on the party after a certain point. Not that it surprised Luna that the good things slip away after a good night. Still, it was somewhat  disappointing that she never got to know a person who is so bold and caring. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s the real reason why Luna stood there as the doctor squirted the cold gelly on Raven’s exposed stomach, holding her hand. She didn’t want that wonderful spark in Raven to die, a spark that was all too often lost as the world tainted them. The doctor places the scanner to Raven’s belly and the image starts to form on the display.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It truly is a marvel how something that was going to become a human could look like that. The whole process was a wonder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The doctor smiles so bright Luna has to wonder if maybe he polishes his teeth instead of brushing it. Luna admired optimism, but sometimes medical professions put on such a bright smile it was all too easy to tell that they were faking it. “Congratulations, Miss Reyes. You’re having a little boy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Excitement lights up Raven’s face. It is so potent it makes her sparkle in a way Luna has never seen. It takes her breath away. “A boy?” Raven asks with wonder, as if not quite believing her ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes a boy”, the doctor replies with a practiced sort of patience.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Oh wow”, Raven says, her eyes wide. Luna finds herself rolling her thumb gently over the back of Raven’s hand in a gesture that she can only hope is comforting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The doctor nods and smiles in agreement as he cleans up the gel and his equipment. “I will leave you to get dressed. The receptionist will have a report and a copy of the ultrasound if you wish to keep one.” He ambles over to the door and takes his leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna nudges Raven’s shoulder a little. “Hey, that little boy will be just as much a genius engineer as his Mom. He’ll be handsome and just as much of a wonder, and I know everyone around him will give him all the love he deserves and more. I certainly will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That grabs Raven’s attention and turns to Luna with an appreciative smile. “I know. It’s just that I never thought I’d be here in this situation.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna shakes her head. “Me either”,she deadpans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven does a double take before she breaks into laughter. “Luna!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, did you expect to lie about it?”Luna replies, dubiously raising her eyebrow. It wasn’t like she was famous or a CEO like Lincoln and Lexa.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The laughter does not cease as Raven wheezes out, holding onto her sides, “Yeah, but you could try for some subtlety. Whatever did that doctor do to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna shrugs, “He smiles so much it seems fake.” It’s true, it definitely irks her. She is the type of person who values honesty and genuine emotions to a higher degree than others.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven shakes her head, ponytail waiving in the air behind her. “You’re too skeptical.” She gently slaps Luna’s hand that is extended to help her as she jumps off the examination set up, landing on her two feet with a satisfying thud. She looks up with a grin at Luna as if to tell her, “See? I can do it myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna has to suppress a smile at her antics as they plod back out the long hallway to the reception area. Raven takes care of checking out and they are off, down to the parking garage where Luna’s old and reliable sedan sits. On their way, Luna catches Raven sneaking glances at the sonogram, but doesn’t comment. Any person should have the right to be happy about their baby without being teased. Raven seemed particularly shy about this subject, and Luna didn’t want to accidentally chase away the motherly instinct that seemed to just have started sprouting within Raven.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they duck into their seats in the car and Luna buckles her seatbelt, the piece of film is thrust towards her. “Here. Maybe it’ll cheer you up from your gloomy hate towards the doctor, since you seem even more excited about him than me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t, it’s your first sonogram, that’s just not right-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your mood is affecting mine, now take it”, Raven orders with a finality, shoving it at Luna and then immediately pushing her hands under her legs so that there’s no way Luna can force her to take it back. It is a method that is borderline childish, and so Raven-like. At this point, she can’t even argue that she doesn’t care about Raven as Raven is insinuating, because she does. So instead she slips the picture into the pocket of her coat and starts the car. “Where to?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Admit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Raven, Octavia, and Clarke have a talk about Luna</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sun filters in through the window of Octavia’s room as the three girls lay sprawled on the bed. The owner of the room is braiding Raven’s hair, as the person in question flips through a magazine with more cars than gossip. Off to the side Clarke scratches away with her pencil on her sketchbook. “You drawing Commander heart-eyes again? You two are so in love it’s gross.”Raven teases without even looking up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In an equally unenthusiastic return, Clarke doesn’t look up either as she answers, “I don’t always draw her. I bet you and Luna are just as disgustingly affectionate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This causes Raven to freeze and tense. “What?” She jerks her head back, only to get jerked back into place by Octavia holding her hair in a brain. “Ow”,she grumbles as Octavia drops her hair to free her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t act innocent, you even took her to an appointment”,Octavia deadpans, snatching the paper from Raven’s hands so she can’t direct her attention there and flips through with a wrinkled nose at the lack of normal gossip magazine content.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clarke nods in agreement, “You don’t listen to me, heck you don’t even listen to my Mom nagging you to go to an appointment, usually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven looks away, attempting to snatch the magazine back from Octavia, only for her to throw it further away towards the pillows. “She was just giving me a ride after we ran into each other on the boardwalk, that’s all”, Raven brushes off in an offhand lie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of her best friends look at her as if to say, “You’re really going to pull this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a large sigh, she looks at them pointedly, “It’s not like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then what is it like, Raven? You’ve never let anyone in much. We had to fight to get in with you”, Clarke queries, as she tosses aside her sketchbook.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven squirms because she knows what she has with Luna isn’t definable. It’s not quite a friendship, nor a mutually beneficial circumstance. It’s a borderline thing that makes it complicated, more so than Raven wants to think about. “She’s just a friend who helps when you can’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So if she’s just a friend then you wouldn’t mind if we set her up on a date with someone? She seems perfect for my friend-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, why would you do that?”Raven scowls, batting the suggestion away all too quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Octavia snorts. “Not like that, my ass.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven huffs and slaps Octavia in the arm. Being the fighter she is, Octavia simply laughs it off. “There’s nothing going on between us. And even then she’s too good for somebody strapped down by a kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahah! So you admit you would want to date her!”Octavia throws her hands up victoriously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No! I said nothing of that kind!” Raven immediately screams in reply, whacking Octavia with a pillow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Raven, you know that there’s no reason why a person should find a child a burden right? From what you’re saying Luna already really cares about the baby that you’re carrying.” Ever the rational one, Clarke cuts in, snatching a pillow back from Octavia as she grabs one in an attempt to start a pillow fight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven slowly lowers the pillow. This statement hits her hard, because she has seen first hand just how kind and amazing Luna is, and just how much she cares for the baby. After all, what other reason could she have to go out of  her way and help Raven? “I know… but Finn loved me and he…” She trails off, knowing that if she continues she will start to cry, and her friends envelope her in a hug without a word.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the embrace of her friends, Raven allows herself to feel sad. They know what had happened better than anyone else in her life. She’s allowed to mourn for the trust and innocence she gave to a criminal, a man she thought was once the best in the world. The words that slip out of her mouth are a feeble excuse against her ever growing emotions, “It’s not just about me now, I also have the baby to think about. I can’t trust that she’s just a good person. Anyone can turn bad. Finn was the perfect example.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Octavia frowns, “Yeah but isn’t it better to have two parents, even if one is a step-parent?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clarke elbows her disapprovingly and then turns back to Raven. “Look, whatever you do, we’ll support you. But that kid? Would be a lot happier if they had a happy Mom too.” She points at Raven’s stomach to make her point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time since Finn was sentenced, Raven considers her own love life to be something other than a lost cause. That perhaps her hands aren’t tied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-0-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn’t mean to keep the sonogram in her pocket. It wasn’t until it fell out the next time she went to work that she realized it was even still in her pocket. From then on, it kind of grew on her. Luna found herself staring at the little miracle on the piece of plastic more and more. It eventually migrated from her pocket to a safe place in her wallet after it fell out of Luna’s pocket for a third time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It is as she is examining this picture for the thousandth time that her phone rings. She pulls it out and answers without looking at the screen, eyes still on the photograph, “This is Luna Rivers speaking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna’s heart skips a beat. “Raven?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A nervous chuckle sounds from across the line. “Yeah it’s me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is something wrong? You’ve never actually called me.” Luna is concerned, worried that something happened to the mother and son.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No no no!”Raven quickly corrects. “It’s just that Lexa and Clarke are holding a dinner with friends and I wanted to ask if you wanted to come??”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna is tempted to say no. After all, most people simply forget about her. Yet something tells her this one will be different. After all, Lexa will be hosting it, and this is Raven. The Raven who has noticed her. “Will Lincoln be there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, Lincoln, and Anya and Echo”,Raven replies. “Please…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And just like that, Luna knows she can’t say no. Raven’s tone is so quiet and gentle in that moment, totally unlike how confident she is. It makes Luna’s heart flutter at  her tone. “Yeah. I’ll be there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After hanging up, Luna just sits there in the car, considering the events that have occurred recently. She knows what this feeling is, and it scares her more than anything. The more it grows, the less she can avoid it. Boy did she wish to avoid it. After all, she had experienced firsthand just how fragile the life of somebody with nightblood could be. Lexa may be brave and able to overcome it. In fact, Lexa’s proud of her blood. Luna is not the same as Lexa in that sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even after twelve years, the event haunts her. She had watched the inability for blood to clot literally kill.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shakes her head to clear it, as if she can literally fling the thoughts from her mind and starts the car. A gift wasn’t really needed for her cousin’s house, but perhaps she should bring one because there would be other people there?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-0-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luna gets dragged into a game of Uno as soon as she arrives that evening. “C’mon!”Raven says excitedly as she takes Luna’s hand and drags her to the coffee table that everyone is huddled around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna looks around for help and Lexa laughs at her from the open kitchen. “You’re not going to get out of that one, she’s already beat everyone else at the game once, just tonight.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clarke waltzes around her, “helping” Lexa prepare the meal. “She’s right, she even beat me!”Clarke calls as she chops vegetables.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raven drags Luna onto the couch and sits her down at the very end, before squeezing in between Octavia and Luna. Squeeze is a generous description, since she ends up half on Luna’s lap and half on Octavia’s lap rather than the couch really. Raven thrusts a hand of cards at Luna before picking up her own and diving straight back into the game. Luna can only shake her head and smile at the woman’s never-ending enthusiasm.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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